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[Khyron]

I apologize in advance about this post. Most of the issues described here are pretty small and there are workarounds for them. I'm not normally OCD, but some games (especially DF) bring out OCD tendancies and all the little minor issues build up to bother me a lot.

To begin with, I've played since 2D. I love the game. I love the possibilities. None of my forts ever make it to fruition. I've very rarely had a fort die out, but I get frustrated and annoyed and overwhelmed and just stop playing a fort. A month later I delete the save and start over. I love to start out, and I have tons of fun beginning each new fort, planning the layout, coming up with designs, etc.

So what annoys me so much about the forts that I can't ever finish them? Jobs and Immigrants.

One of the OCD traits I have is that I must have the exact amount of dwarves doing a specific task. I cannot just let every immigrant do the job they arrived with, I must have ONLY two miners (Both legendary, any more is a waste), I must have ONLY two farmers (Fields), I don't need more than one of each smith type (Or crafting type), I don't need more than 2 smelters, etc. And my skilled dwarves shouldn't need to be haulers once I've got 50 dwarves; I should have at least 20 that aren't needed for any jobs right away that can haul shit around while the useful dwarves do their useful things.

My solution has been to assign certain dwarves custom profession titles, and make certain they're the ONLY ones doing that profession. This way they're always on-task and the ones I want to skill-up, skill-up.

The annoyance comes into play in several forms :

• Every new immigrant has to be individually customized to a specific task, to make certain that new immigrants don't interfere with the jobs of dedicated professionals.
• I have to come up with custom titles that are descriptive of what those dwarves are doing that also aren't confused with the regular titles.
• Every new immigrant must be inspected and compared to the list of professions I currently have to make certain they don't start with a higher skill level than a dwarf currently working as that profession. If I just got a (normal skill) butcher and previously I had my fifth Fish Cleaner butchering stuff and is only up to Novice, then you better beleive that now I want this new guy to be the butcher and to put the Fish Cleaner to work elsewhere. Of course, now I've got to treat the fish cleaner like a new immigrant and determine where I need to put him to make him most useful. This is ESPECIALLY annoying because...
• Dwarves end up being spread all across the list. I've got to scan through 80+ dwarves to figure out who I've got working as what. I've got five fish cleaners, 1 of which is doing his job while the other 4 are more useful elsewhere, but they're all mixed together in the same spot in the list.
• I can't just use the workshop profiles to get around my need to customize newcomers. If I have multiple workshops (Say 1 for highly-skilled guys and 1 for guys still skilling up, like I almost always have for my masons) then work orders assign tasks to every workshop at the same time. Plus it's still hard to find people on the list (If not harder due to lack of customized profession names) due to the reasons I listed above.
• Once I get things down and I've got my fort going nicely, some stupid grower will go fey and turn himself into a woodcarver. Now he's listed up under the Craftsdwarves section, and the unit list gets all spread out again. And I hate to replace him because I don't NEED a woodcarver, I need a good grower and he's my best

I know that most of this is just me being too nitpicky, but something about this game makes me that way. It's the same with many other games I play where individual workers have individual skill levels (the Tropico games make me way too damn OCD about who works where). Other people don't seem to have as many issues with the jobs/skills as I do, so I'm hoping that I'm just doing something wrong and there's an easier way to do this.

Does anyone have suggestions for ways I can go about things that doesn't set off my OCD complex and make me frustrated with the game?

[Sphalerite]

I keep a notebook with a list of my fort's current population, who has what skills enabled (and who I'm trying to train up on what skill), as well as other details like who is married to who and who's made an artifact already.  OCD to be sure, but I'm trying to maximize skill development and use.

[gtmattz]

Two words: Dwarf Manager

http://dwarfmanager.sourceforge.net/

[Jim Groovester]

You've got everything pretty well thought out. The only way you're going to become less obsessed and frustrated is if you stop worrying so much about who does what.

Reeeeeelaaaaaaaaax.

[Albedo]

My solution has been to assign certain dwarves custom profession titles, and make certain they're the ONLY ones doing that profession...

When you say "title", are you replacing their profession, or their nickname? Once I got over trying to be on a "first name" basis with all my dwarves, putting their "job description" in as their first name and letting (most of) the professions show as their true ones, I found things much easier.

It also helps to keep track of how moods are looking.

Dwarves end up being spread all across the list. I've got to scan through 80+ dwarves to figure out who I've got working as what.... but they're all mixed together in the same spot in the list.

The notebook idea is what you need. I use a couple sheets of graph paper (also handy for planning rooms/etc), and keep track that way. 

Dwarf Manager should be the answer, but I find it hard to use once any custom profession titles are in the mix.

Once I get things down and I've got my fort going nicely, some stupid grower will go fey and turn himself into a woodcarver.

I always look at a dwarf's preferences and plan their fey mood through those.  If a Grower becomes a wood carver, it's because I need a wood carver or they particularly like bolts or highwood (and I have lots of that) or whatever.  Otherwise, they trained attributes as miners or engravers or glass makers (if their preferences are in a desired furniture, a type of stone or a type of glass) until they have a new profession - and then become growers (another fast train up), and a mood produces a legendary miner or engraver or (particular type of) glassmaker - which can always keep doing Growing and be kept on call for when they're needed.

This doesn't pretend to ignore your OCD (there is a reason the O & C are in there), but it reroutes it to less rigid expectations.

[Danarca]

You've got everything pretty well thought out. The only way you're going to become less obsessed and frustrated is if you stop worrying so much about who does what.

Reeeeeelaaaaaaaaax.

You can't hinder OCD.
Of course, if he isn't diagnosed with it, and it's occasionally, he could work it out.

But you can't hinder or limit a mental disorder, sorry.

[Khyron]

I tried being on a first-name basis with my dwarves by giving them nicknames. That lasted until the first dwarf of my first immigration before I realised that wasn't going to work well for me. So yeah, titles have been custom profession names I assign to all members of that profession.

The notebook thing is a bit cumbersome for my liking - but Dwarf Manager seems like it'll ease the pain of micromanaging all these bearded jerks.

And for the record, I'm not diagnosed OCD or anything similar. But there are times when I play certain games that I absolutely have to do things a very specific and very certain way to be pleased with the results. DF is just the worst offender in this regard. By a very, very large margin.

[Albedo]

I replace names w/ a code* - immigration wave (0, 1, 2...), then a designation if they fall into a special class: *BOSS* (Leader, to spot easily in the mix), CE (Combat Engineer - mason/woodcutter/plantgatherer/axe carrier), T (trader), and whether they have trained their attributes as a m(iner) or are earmarked for a life of M(ining) and attribute increases in that manner.

Then an asterisk and letter, for whether they are an amateur (reserve) or Professional (Dedicated) *s/S(oldier) or *a/A(rcher), and some other misc ones as needed.  If/once they become THE chosen rep in that one skill, they get that skill in ALL-CAPS, or small letters if apprentice/backup.

I can look down that first column of "names" and spot who I need fairly quickly.  In Dwarf Manager, "first names" only show in expanded professions, so that's a bit awkward, but it can work acceptably.

(* I am not a number, I am a dwarfen being!!!)

[Grendus]

All of my dwarves who don't come with a useful skill are labled "Hauler". They're a combination Thresher/Miller/Butcher/Tanner/Dyer/Fish Processor/Hauler with Mason/Carpenter/Mechanic turned on for constructions. If I'm not trying to avoid the pet death issues with wandering workers, I even let them train animals. I deny them access to my workshops, which are designated for my professionals. Since those tasks have no quality modifiers, I just let whoever wants to volunteer to do them have the job. If I need to speed up any of those tasks, I build some temporary workshops to take more volunteers.

Fortresses get so overcrowded in my experience the only place where skill is a factor is in creating valuable items. Anything else is just overkill to have designated workers.

[Jim Groovester]

(* I am not a number, I am a dwarfen being!!!)

(Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!)

But I think you mean, "I am not a number, I am a free dwarf!"

[Albedo]

(was that it? looooong time, just kinda popped into my head.) 

[Lordinquisitor]

I use the great dwarf manager and got an pretty easy system.

Any unnecessary immigrant male dwarf is drafted into the military, while any unnecessary immigrant woman is forced into slavery. Hauling things, burning wood, breeding.. such stuff.

(I once tried it the other way round but babies just don`t offer the same protection as an normal shield. Besides those female soldiers got all mad when their "shields" got a smashed in. Meh.  )

[Albedo]

Go figure.

I like to see what attributes slaves dorfs get before deciding where they'll go, but same diff.

[Khyron]

Dwarf Manager helps a lot. I've managed to customize my dwarves down to my liking. I still wish I could assign custom classes (To make the fishcleaner I turned into a grower show up brown on the list, also so that my legendary miner/engravers stay grey and stay as miners despite the fact that they've got more engraving skill), and I posted a suggestion in the suggestion forum to this effect.

[dragon0421]

Join the club.

I have all the same symptoms as you, but I also must give dwarfs jobs that fit their personalities. All of my masons, smiths, and crafters must appreciate art and natural beauty or strive for excellence. All of my military are males who can handle stress (I don't want any mothers carrying their baby into battle).

I've found four things that help.

1) Dwarf manager. Others have already explained the necessity of this program so I won't go into detail.

2) Edit the init to a lower population cap and only raise it when ready for new immigrants. I HATE it when I start getting everything set up how I like it only to get a wave of 20 useless immigrants, forcing me to stop what I was doing to check everyone's personality and gender, and give everyone jobs and titles.

(IMO this game would be much more enjoyable with a slower default population growth rate - I wouldn't mind getting 3 to 5 new immigrants a year. This would give more incentive to keeping dwarfs alive, make larger populations more of a reward than the nuisance it currently is, and give newborns and children more value.)

3) Make a backup copy of the beginning save and location for the inevitable moment you get fed up and start over. On this save I have my fort almost completely drawn out with mining designations. This is a huge time saver.

4) Take breaks. It's easy to get burned out if you play nonstop for too long.